The adaptive nature of culture: A cross-cultural analysis of the returns of local environmental knowledge in three indigenous societies

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

  • Victoria Reyes-García
  • Maximilien Guèze
  • Isabel Díaz-Reviriego
  • Romain Duda
  • Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares
  • Sandrine Gallois
  • Lucentezza Napitupulu
  • Martí Orta-Martínez
  • Aili Pyhälä

Researchers have argued that the behavioral adaptations that explain the success of our species are partially cultural, that is, cumulative and socially transmitted. Thus, understanding the adaptive nature of culture is crucial to understand human evolution. We use a cross- cultural framework and empirical data purposely collected to test whether culturally transmitted and individually appropriated knowledge provides individual returns in terms of hunting yields and health and, by extension, nutritional status, a proxy for individual adaptive success. Data were collected in three subsistence oriented societies: the Tsimane’ (Amazon), the Baka (Congo Basin), and the Punan (Borneo). Results suggest that variations in individual levels of local environmental knowledge relate to individual hunting returns and self-reported health but not to nutritional status. We argue that this paradox can be explained through the prevalence of sharing: individuals achieving higher returns to their knowledge transfer them to the rest of the population, which explains the lack of association between knowledge and nutritional status. The finding is in consonance with previous research highlighting the importance of cultural traits favoring group success but pushes it forward by elucidating the mechanisms through which individual- and group-level adaptive forces interact.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
ZeitschriftCurrent Anthropology
Jahrgang57
Ausgabenummer6
Seiten (von - bis)761-784
Anzahl der Seiten24
ISSN0011-3204
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 01.12.2016
Extern publiziertJa

DOI

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